Fruit and Vegetable Grower Feedback Needed on Produce Safety Costs, Needs, and Barriers

Time is running out to give feedback. We would like to ensure that there is good representation from all types of growers across the country so please share this announcement across your grower networks. Below is a table summarizing response numbers by state so you can see how your state is represented.

The Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Team and personnel from the Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety (NECAFS) at the University of Vermont would like to understand the costs and the barriers of beginning or expanding food safety practices on farms and in packinghouses to make educational materials more relevant to fruit and vegetable growers and packers. To do this, we have developed a survey to collect food safety information from fruit and vegetable growers across the country.

What are the Goals of this Survey?

To understand:

· what steps growers have taken toward adopting food safety practices on their farm,

· the costs of adopting food safety practices (both one-time and reoccurring), and

· where growers have questions about food safety.

Why Should You Participate?

The detailed information that is provided will allow future educational materials to be tailored to specific challenges that growers are facing.

Who Should Participate?

We are looking for feedback from people involved in fruit and vegetable production and packing, including those who have and who have not adopted food safety practices. This survey should be completed by someone who has knowledge about the operation’s produce safety practices (e.g., equipment, finances, supplies, training, market distribution, third-party audits).

Participation is voluntary and anonymous. It will take 10 – 30 minutes to complete the survey, depending on the farms’ food safety practices.

By completing this survey, you can choose to be entered into a raffle to win a $75 prepaid credit card. Ten participants will randomly be selected to win. The raffle will be held when the survey closes, approximately June 1st. If selected, you will be contacted to confirm your mailing address and acknowledge acceptance of the $75 prepaid credit card.

Direct link to the English-language survey: https://qualtrics.uvm.edu/jfe/form/SV_agW9o6VWOUCivCC

Direct link to the Spanish-language survey: https://qualtrics.uvm.edu/jfe/form/SV_agW9o6VWOUCivCC?Q_Language=ES